Anti-social Networking

Artrockers,
I have dabbled with Facebook, well you have to at least have a go, see what the fuss is about. I don't like it. The first rule of emailing was established some time ago, and it is this: Do not hit reply until you've thought about it, maybe had a cuppa. Many friendships have been destroyed by not following this rule - here comes my reply, Snap, here comes my reply to your reply, Snap, and before you know it a mate has become an enemy, all because that original mail was mis-read or badly phrased. No such caution operates in the world of Facebook, in fact for some it is a wonderful excuse to be rude, hurtful and simply unpleasant. And it's out of your hands, you're not in control of who might be posting on your page, sure you've invited your friends and colleagues, people you can trust, you believe, but along with them come their friends, or 'friends' (Facebook has done much to devalue the word) over whom you have no control - you didn't invite them but there they are, urinating all over the carpet. And there seems to be competition to have the most friends, which means that quality control goes out of the window, come one come all, make me look better, I don't care who you are, what you have to say or whether, in fact, you're simply an anti-social troll hiding behind an assumed identity for the simple purpose of upsetting people with whom you have no connection.

It was experiences like these that have made me turn my back on Facebook, I'm not crazy about being insulted by gutless sociopaths who hide behind PC consoles, so why would I open myself up to it by playing the Facebook game?

Colleagues who know about this sort of thing assure me that Facebook is a busted flush, headed to the exit marked my-space, and that Twitter is where it's at. Well, maybe, but Like Kate Moss I don't get it. It appears to be the digital alternative to scribble on the toilet wall, some of which is quite amusing for the duration of ones poo, but is forgotten by the time you get to the hand dryer.

Or maybe I'm missing the point?

Tom Artrocker

ps. Apparently not - THIS is from The Telegraph, Friday 27th Jan.